Susan  Schwartz

Obituary of Susan Elizabeth Wager Schwartz

Dr. Susan Elizabeth Wager Schwartz was born on March 11, 1934 in St. Louis, MO, to Charles Holmes and Elizabeth Kidder Wager. The family soon moved to Port Washington on Long Island, and Susan considered herself to be a New Yorker for the rest of her life. She graduated with a music degree from Oberlin College, where she played the French horn and met Thomas Albert Schwartz, her future husband. After college, she taught piano at the Diller-Quaile School of Music in Manhattan. The family eventually moved to State College, PA, and she obtained a Master's Degree of Art History and a Doctor of Philosophy in Architectural History from The Pennsylvania State University. She lived between State College and the family vacation house which she designed herself on Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes Region of New York.

She was an active philanthropist and supported various organizations, with a particular interest in helping advance education and the arts. She provided scholarships to students at Penn State and Washington University in St. Louis, the alma matter of her parents. She was a member of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). After the death of Thomas in 2000, Susan became involved with the Corning Museum of Glass, and expanded that into collecting beautiful works of both prominent and rising artists to show the development and evolution of their glass-making techniques. She was a founding member and key supporter of the Corning Museum of Glass Ennion Society. Susan enjoyed travelling with both SAH and the Ennion Society, and most notably visited Japan, India, Italy, The Czech Republic and Scandinavia. She enjoyed tennis, gardening, photography, The New York Times, crossword puzzles and gin rummy. She is survived by her children, Timothy Andrew Schwartz of University Heights, OH and Kathryn Elizabeth Schwartz of Pawleys Island, SC, and brother-in-law Earl Moses and nephew, Matthew Moses both of Redondo Beach, CA.

Susan will be laid to rest next to her husband in Bath, NY at a private family gathering, and there will be a celebration of her life at a future date at the Penn State Palmer Museum of Art. Susan loved her rescue cats, so in lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in her name to the Finger Lakes SPCA - https://fingerlakesspca.org/.

Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.

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